What we learned as Kings rally past Mavs to end six-game skid

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What we learned as Kings rally past Mavs to end six-game skid originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

BOX SCORE

SACRAMENTO – Domantas Sabonis looks like he’s feeling a lot better since sitting out a game the day after Christmas because of an illness. The Kings’ big man was in top form and put together another masterful performance with 17 points, 16 rebounds and seven assists in a 110-100 win over the severely short-handed Dallas Mavericks on Monday at Golden 1 Center.

De’Aaron Fox had 33 points, six rebounds and six assists to help the Kings (14-19) snap their longest losing streak of the season while giving Doug Christie his first victory as interim coach. Malik Monk added 14 points while Trey Lyles scored 14 and was a plus-31.

A long-time assistant and former Kings player, Christie was handed the reigns after management decided to fire former NBA Coach of the Year Mike Brown last Friday. The Kings lost to the Lakers on the road Saturday in Christie’s head coaching debut.

For most of the night, there wasn’t much difference between the team that Brown coached and the one that Christie was coaching. There were a lot of the same mistakes, and at one point in the first half, the Golden 1 Center crowd let loose with a light round of boos.

That all changed when the Kings took a double-digit lead in the fourth quarter and didn’t let it get away, as they did several times this season under Brown. As the final seconds ticked away, fans stood and chanted “Light the beam” and the good times flowed.

Granted, the Mavericks looked like a MASH unit. Stars Luka Doncic, Kyrie Irving, Klay Thompson and others all missed the game for various reasons. For a team starving for good news after one of the most tumultuous periods in Sacramento history, the Kings will take every bit of it.

Fox paved the way with a consistent night. He scored eight points in the first quarter, seven in the second, eight in the third and 10 in the fourth.

Here are the takeaways from Monday’s game:

Defending the arc

A change in coaching hasn’t done much to improve the Kings’ inability to defend the 3-point shot effectively

Two days after…

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Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/learned-kings-rally-past-mavs-055621274.html

Author : NBC Sports BayArea

Publish date : 2024-12-31 05:56:00

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